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FOOD AND COMPULSIVE DOING
Exhausted, juggling private practice and 32 hour week job at a hospital in order to financially prepare for the adoption of my baby, it finally dawned on me…I can have all the money in the world and I won’t be a very good mother if I’m dead due to exhaustion. Compulsive “doing” is a plight we American women deal with more than women of any culture, and it’s showing up on our waistlines. Compulsive doing is a core element in many of our struggles with food. Slowing down means feeling those dreaded feelings that we have used compulsive activity to avoid. We pride ourselves as active women too busy to eat and America graciously extols us for our ability to keep several balls in the air at once. Unfortunately, the ball that is close to hitting the ground is our physical health.
Caffeine and sugar addiction are at record highs and it’s even “in vogue” to get the double espresso to make it through the extra two hours you just have to stay at the office to meet your self-imposed deadline. Sleep deprivation runs rampant and along with lack of sleep comes increased consumption of carbohydrates. Many load up on coffee or green tea to arm themselves for the day or ingest caffeine in the form of chocolate or coffee. Is your main form of “stress management” a bag of chips or a milky way? Do you find yourself during a busy day just having to hit the vending machines or curb that sweet tooth? Rest assured, your reaction to stress isn’t only an emotional response but there is a physiological basis for overeating or grabbing the foods you know aren’t your best choice during stress-induced times. Physiologists have found an increase in the body’s secretion of the hormone cortisol during increased stress. This rise in cortisol levels causes increased cravings for carbohydrates… the M & M’s or Krispy Kreme Donut you reach for after a pressured business meeting or writing this years budget. Sleep deprivation places the body in a state of stress with again increases these hormone levels that create carbohydrate cravings. Many complain that they don’t have a problem with overeating carbs during the day but they may suffer from what we call “Night Eating Syndrome.” They find themselves ingesting most of their calories after 6 pm, after they have left their daytime jobs. According to the American Journal of Physiology, February 2002, new research findings by Norwegian physiologists found that a midnight raid on the refrigerator is also related to the high stress periods the body undergoes during the day. Whether it’s that chocolate ice cream you crave before bed or a giant bowl of spaghetti for dinner, it may be that your effort to get that extra letter written for the boss on time is pushing your body to want foods that aren’t in your best interest.
On the other end of the spectrum, many women take pride in their ability to not eat and in accomplishing other “more important tasks.” How often do you hear women in an almost smug, prideful tone, state they have been so busy they haven’t eaten all day. Do you put off eating until all of your “work “ is completed only to make poor choices due to your ravenous appetite when you finally sit down for a meal. Do you make sure your kids fuel up for the day in the morning with a healthy breakfast expecting your physical machine to run on empty, then wonder why you continue to suffer colds and the flu each year? Do you come home frazzled from the busy day having sit down with the kids to a “meal: consisting of fast food? Consider the example we as American women are giving to our children. By not taking care of the most basic of human needs, the need for proper rest and nutrition, we are teaching our children that women don’t count, that we come last, and we are only worthy if we are human “doings” rather than human “beings.”
Breaking free from compulsive doing in America is challenging. One surefire method is to lower your expectations that you have to or even CAN do it ALL. Decrease your consumption of chemicals that give your body an artificial high and put your physical health first starting with your most basic needs. By allowing your body to feel it’s natural rhythm of energy, you may not hit every deadline at work, but in the end you will probably increase your lifeline.
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